English poet Christina Rossetti’s poem, “Song [‘When I am dead, my dearest’]” was published in 1862. This short poem is an examination of life and death in a Victorian woman’s point of view, and her message to her beloved. Not surprisingly, being that it is an age of inequality in the male’s favor, this poem is rare in that Rossetti is making it so the Victorian woman's perspective is the focal point for a change, and she is talking back in a genre where it is usually male voice dominated, for example “The Lady of Shallott” (Landow). Rossetti intentionally portrays the poem to have stereotypical elements found in the Victorian period at first, so that in the second half, it will have a greater impact on her audience when she takes those notions in a unique spin of her own on what it means to be an ideal woman in those times. When I am dead, my dearest, Sing no sad songs for me; Plant thou no roses at my head, Nor shady cypress tree: Be the green grass above me With showers and dewdrops wet; And if thou wilt, remember, And if thou wilt, forget. I shall not see the shadows, I shall not feel the rain; I shall not hear the nightingale Sing on, as if in pain: And dreaming through the twilight That doth not rise nor set, Haply I may remember, And haply may forget.
The poem consists of sixteen lines in total, with each line altering in length from long to short for both stanza’s. In each stanza the first, fifth and seventh lines have two iambs and an amphibrach, for example “my DEARest” found at the end of the first line. Lines two, four, and six on both stanza’s are iambic trimeters, and the third lines on both stanza’s are iambic tetrameters. The poem is spoken in the first person narrative, giving it a greater sense of intimacy. The poem emits sadness, but also skepticism too. There is some irony present, for example the dearest of the dead will not remember her and she knows this, women had no rights back in the Victorian period which can be interpreted as another means of being dead too.
Christina Rossetti (Wikimedia Commons)
There is a sharp contrast between the two stanza’s. As stated, the first stanza is playing on the typical stereotypes of the day, the woman who is attached to her beloved and wishes for him to not be distraught in mourning by her imminent death. However, we can see a shift occur right at the end of the stanza when Rossetti specifically uses the wording “if,” which is a conditional form of statement towards the mourner to neither remember nor forget, in essence removing the “need for poetic expression of male suffering” (Block).
With this, the second stanza transitions the poem into a huge shift in the opposite direction. The two main points being a growing indifference towards the future mourner, and also a sense of self-empowerment for women as a whole. The self-empowerment comes from not being turned into an object for men, to make one’s own choices and fate, something so important that death pales in comparison, “that a woman’s lived experience is her own” (Block). The tone of indifference is especially highlighted in the last two lines, a play on the word “haply” which also means “perhaps”. She is happy with her status as an inanimate object, and she is indifferent to her mourner’s loss (Block). Another way of thinking about it would be that when she is dead, she would not be around anymore to experience the suffering of loss and therefore naturally is detached from the mourner. This is highlighted by her existence “in a world of sensory deprivation and apparent peace” found on lines 9-12 (Landow). In other words, the “recognition of how death deprives the organic body of its sensibility” (Block). She does not know what to expect after death so there are hints of uncertainty, perhaps what she ultimately wants is not to be mourned for, as she feels it just adds unnecessary pain, but rather to be remembered in some way. Something that is for certain is the spirituality depicted in the poem and that it can provide comfort upon death (Kelly). We know that Rossetti was serious about religion and was a devout Anglican all her life (Duguid). With this background information, we can deduct that she would put an emphasis on spirituality and what it can offer as opposed to earthly equivalents, the importance of individuality and freedom of expression instead of being tied down to the mercy of men depicted in other works of art (Kelly).
Interestingly, Rossetti fell in love only twice in her life, and at the height of her love “the idea of love turned inexorably to the idea of death, and in this association we can surely see her instinctive shrinking from the surrender which love demands” (Bowra). This fact about her life helps show her mindset in making the poem, in fact, the speaker is likely the poet itself in wondering what death will mean to her (Bowra). Rossetti believed that love was not for her because of her lifestyle, a sense of unworthiness that could be interpreted of herself within the first stanza of the poem (Bowra). We can see that a lot of the power found in her poetry comes from endless longings inside her instead of manufactured emotions, as readers we can feel that something deep is being shared with us, the plight of a woman in the Victorian period.
Works Cited
Bowra, C.M. "Love as an Influence on Christina Rossetti." Victorian Web. Web. 5 February 2015.
Block, Daniel. "Christina Rossetti's 'Song' ('When I am dead, my dearest') and Wordsworth's 'A Slumber Did my Spirit Seal.'" Victorian Web. Web. 5 February 2015.
Duguid, Lindsay. "The Oxford Dictionary of Biography. Oxford University Press, 2004." Web. 5 February 2015.
Kelly, Meaghan. "A Woman's Voice in Rossetti's 'Song.'" Victorian Web. Web. 5 February 2015.
Landow, George P. "The Dead Woman Talks Back: Christina Rossetti's Ironic Intonation of the Dead Fair Maiden." Victorian Web. Web. 5 February 2015.
Rossetti, Christina. "Song ('When I am dead, my dearest.')" The Broadview Anthology of Victorian Poetry and Poetic Theory. Ed. Thomas J. Collins & Vivienne J. Rundle. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press Ltd, 1999. 857-858. Print.
English poet Christina Rossetti’s poem, “Song [‘When I am dead, my dearest’]” was published in 1862. This short poem is an examination of life and death in a Victorian woman’s point of view, and her message to her beloved. Not surprisingly, being that it is an age of inequality in the male’s favor, this poem is rare in that Rossetti is making it so the Victorian woman's perspective is the focal point for a change, and she is talking back in a genre where it is usually male voice dominated, for example “The Lady of Shallott” (Landow). Rossetti intentionally portrays the poem to have stereotypical elements found in the Victorian period at first, so that in the second half, it will have a greater impact on her audience when she takes those notions in a unique spin of her own on what it means to be an ideal woman in those times.
When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.
I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.
The poem consists of sixteen lines in total, with each line altering in length from long to short for both stanza’s. In each stanza the first, fifth and seventh lines have two iambs and an amphibrach, for example “my DEARest” found at the end of the first line. Lines two, four, and six on both stanza’s are iambic trimeters, and the third lines on both stanza’s are iambic tetrameters. The poem is spoken in the first person narrative, giving it a greater sense of intimacy. The poem emits sadness, but also skepticism too. There is some irony present, for example the dearest of the dead will not remember her and she knows this, women had no rights back in the Victorian period which can be interpreted as another means of being dead too.
There is a sharp contrast between the two stanza’s. As stated, the first stanza is playing on the typical stereotypes of the day, the woman who is attached to her beloved and wishes for him to not be distraught in mourning by her imminent death. However, we can see a shift occur right at the end of the stanza when Rossetti specifically uses the wording “if,” which is a conditional form of statement towards the mourner to neither remember nor forget, in essence removing the “need for poetic expression of male suffering” (Block).
With this, the second stanza transitions the poem into a huge shift in the opposite direction. The two main points being a growing indifference towards the future mourner, and also a sense of self-empowerment for women as a whole. The self-empowerment comes from not being turned into an object for men, to make one’s own choices and fate, something so important that death pales in comparison, “that a woman’s lived experience is her own” (Block). The tone of indifference is especially highlighted in the last two lines, a play on the word “haply” which also means “perhaps”. She is happy with her status as an inanimate object, and she is indifferent to her mourner’s loss (Block). Another way of thinking about it would be that when she is dead, she would not be around anymore to experience the suffering of loss and therefore naturally is detached from the mourner. This is highlighted by her existence “in a world of sensory deprivation and apparent peace” found on lines 9-12 (Landow). In other words, the “recognition of how death deprives the organic body of its sensibility” (Block). She does not know what to expect after death so there are hints of uncertainty, perhaps what she ultimately wants is not to be mourned for, as she feels it just adds unnecessary pain, but rather to be remembered in some way. Something that is for certain is the spirituality depicted in the poem and that it can provide comfort upon death (Kelly). We know that Rossetti was serious about religion and was a devout Anglican all her life (Duguid). With this background information, we can deduct that she would put an emphasis on spirituality and what it can offer as opposed to earthly equivalents, the importance of individuality and freedom of expression instead of being tied down to the mercy of men depicted in other works of art (Kelly).
Interestingly, Rossetti fell in love only twice in her life, and at the height of her love “the idea of love turned inexorably to the idea of death, and in this association we can surely see her instinctive shrinking from the surrender which love demands” (Bowra). This fact about her life helps show her mindset in making the poem, in fact, the speaker is likely the poet itself in wondering what death will mean to her (Bowra). Rossetti believed that love was not for her because of her lifestyle, a sense of unworthiness that could be interpreted of herself within the first stanza of the poem (Bowra). We can see that a lot of the power found in her poetry comes from endless longings inside her instead of manufactured emotions, as readers we can feel that something deep is being shared with us, the plight of a woman in the Victorian period.
Works Cited
Bowra, C.M. "Love as an Influence on Christina Rossetti." Victorian Web. Web. 5 February 2015.
Block, Daniel. "Christina Rossetti's 'Song' ('When I am dead, my dearest') and Wordsworth's 'A Slumber Did my Spirit Seal.'" Victorian Web. Web. 5 February 2015.
Duguid, Lindsay. "The Oxford Dictionary of Biography. Oxford University Press, 2004." Web. 5 February 2015.
Kelly, Meaghan. "A Woman's Voice in Rossetti's 'Song.'" Victorian Web. Web. 5 February 2015.
Landow, George P. "The Dead Woman Talks Back: Christina Rossetti's Ironic Intonation of the Dead Fair Maiden." Victorian Web. Web. 5 February 2015.
Rossetti, Christina. "Song ('When I am dead, my dearest.')" The Broadview Anthology of Victorian Poetry and Poetic Theory. Ed. Thomas J. Collins & Vivienne J. Rundle. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press Ltd, 1999. 857-858. Print.
SN.engl386.uvic.winter2015